Story of Buddha (Awakened One)

You can be "Buddha"

(Inspired by Pod cast of Swami Tyagananda, the head of the Ramakrishna Vedanta Society in Boston.)

We all heard about Gautama Buddha, this is an effort to revisit his life and understand how we can also become "Buddha".

Siddhartha's birth and early life:

On the night Siddhartha(meaning "he who achieves his aim") was conceived, Queen Maha Maya dreamt that a white elephant with six white tusks entered her right side, and ten months later Siddhartha was born. As was the Shakya tradition, when his mother Queen Maya became pregnant, she left Kapilvastu for her father's kingdom to give birth. However, her son is said to have been born on the way, at Lumbini, in a garden beneath a sal tree.

Suddhodana(his Father & the leader of Shakya clan) held a naming ceremony on the fifth day, and invited eight brahmin scholars to read the future. All gave a dual prediction that the baby would either become a great king or a great holy man.

As any other father would have want, Suddhodana also want his son to become a great king and not a great monk.

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We learnt that for this Suddhodana build a special palace for his son and shielded him from religious teachings and from knowledge of human suffering. No one suppose to be un-happy in that palace and if anyone then he has to take forceful leave that day :)

Siddhartha spent his childhood without seeing actual world. When he reached the age of 16, his father reputedly arranged his marriage to a cousin of the same age named Yaśodharā (Pāli: Yasodharā). she gave birth to a son, named Rāhula.

Till age of 29 his father was successful in hiding him from the actual world but till when? One day Siddhartha asked his charioteer Channa that he want to see his kingdom. This is the first time he is coming out of his palace to see the actual world, we learnt that he saw three seen as:

1. First Siddhartha saw a person coughing due to cold, Siddhartha asked his charioteer why that person is behaving in such strange way. It was must be strange for him as this is the first time he was seeing someone ill. Charioteer said the person is ill and all of us sometime has to fall ill due to bad health. Siddhartha nodded and asked to go ahead.

2. Next Siddhartha saw a very old man walking with help of a stick. Siddhartha asked his charioteer why that person look so ugly and why he got bend, is this some kind of illness? It was must be strange for him as this is the first time he was seeing a old person. Charioteer reply no, that person is a old, all of us someday will be old and face many such health related issues. Siddhartha nodded again and asked to go ahead.

3. Lastly Siddhartha saw a dead body, people were going for cremation and was chanting "Hare Ram Hare Ram". Siddhartha asked his charioteer why that person is sleeping and where these people are going. It was must be strange for him as this the first time he was seeing a dead person. Charioteer said the person is dead now and no more in this world. Everone has to die one day and left this world. This was quite shocking for Siddhartha as he never heard anything like before. He said he charoteer that I have seen enough and could you please take me back to my palace.

After reaching palace Siddhartha decided that he will not waste any time and start his search for "Truth", It must be a very difficult decision for him at that time as he is suppose to be next king having a wife and son. But according to "Bahujan Hitay Bahujan Sukhay" sometime we have to make few people unhappy to make many more happy.

Siddhartha's search for Truth:

As per the known way of finding truth he found few monks and start practicing meditation and austerity. He got so involved in austerity measures that he lost his good health and almost become a human skelton. he tried to find enlightenment through deprivation of worldly goods, including food, practicing self-mortif- ication. After nearly starving himself to death by restricting his food intake to around a leaf or nut per day, he collapsed in a river while bathing and almost drowned. Siddhartha began to reconsider his path. He left all his fellow monks and reached Gaya. All the fellow monks started saying that he will not going to attend the enlightenment and he got corrupt now. But Siddhartha is searching truth not to please his fellow monks but to attained the actual truth. He discovered what Buddhists call the Middle Way—a path of moderation away from the extremes of self-indulgence and self-mortification.

Siddharth- a then finally seated under the famous "Bodhi Tree" on a full moon night and firmly decided that he will not stand up unless he attend the enlightenment. After a reputed 49 days of meditation, at the age of 35, he is said to have attained "Enlightenment". From that time, Gautama was known to his followers as the "Buddha" or "Awakened One".

Buddha then traveled to Banaras and found there all the monks he left, those monks decided in them that no one will entertain the Siddhartha as he left the Austerities and there group. But once Buddha comes near to them all of them suddenly fall on his feet and asked to forgive. Such is the power of Purity, where mind was saying no but heart followed what was right. For the remaining 45 years of his life, the Buddha is said to have traveled in the Gangetic Plain

According to Buddhism, at the time of his awakening he realized complete insight into the cause of suffering, and the steps necessary to eliminate it. These discoveries became known as the "Four Noble Truths"

Buddha's Teaching:

The four noble truths can be summarized as follows:

1. The truth of dukkha (suffering, anxiety, stress):

Dukkha indicates a lack of satisfaction, a sense that things never measure up to our expectations or standards.

2. The truth of the origin of dukkha:

Ignorance (Sanskrit: avidya or moha): misunderstanding of the nature of reality; bewilderment.

Attachment (Sanskrit: raga): attachment to pleasurable experiences.

Aversion (Sanskrit: dvesha): a fear of getting what we don't want, or not getting what we do want.

3. The truth of the cessation of dukkha:

Once we have developed a genuine understanding of the causes of suffering, such as craving (tanha) and ignorance (avijja), then we can completely eradicate these causes and thus be free from suffering

4. The truth of the path leading to the cessation of dukkha

This path is called the Noble Eightfold Path, and it is considered to be the essence of Buddhist practice.

The eightfold path consists of:

Right Understanding, Right Thought, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, and Right Concentration.

I will conclude this blog by mentioning what Swami Vivekananda said about Buddha:

" He is the one man who ever carried this(Karma Yoga) into perfect practice. All the prophets of the world, except Buddha, had external motives to move them to unselfish action. The prophets of the world, with this single exception, may be divided into two sets--one set holding that they are incarnations of God come down on earth, and the other holding that they are only messengers from God; and both draw their impetus for work from outside, expect reward from outside, however highly spiritual may be the language they use. But Buddha is the only prophet who said, "I do not care to know your various theories about God. What is the use of discussing all the subtle doctrines about the soul? Do good and be good. And this will take you to freedom and to whatever truth there is." He was, in the conduct of his life, absolutely without personal motives; and what man worked more than he? Show me in history one character who has soared so high above all. The whole human race has produced but one such character, such high philosophy, such wide sympathy. This great philosopher, preaching the highest philosophy, yet has the deepest sympathy for the lowest of animals, and never puts forth any claims for himself. He is the ideal Karma-Yogi, acting entirely without motive, and the history of humanity shows him to have been the greatest man ever born; beyond compare the greatest combination of heart and brain that ever existed, the greatest soul-power that has ever been manifested. He is the first great reformer the world has seen. He is the first who dared to say,"Believe not because some old manuscripts are produced, believe not because it is your national belief, because you have been made to believe it from your childhood; but reason it all out, and after you have analyzed it, then, if you find that it will do good to one and all, believe it, live up to it, and help others to live up to it."He works best who works without any motive, neither for money, nor for fame, nor for anything else; and when a man can do that, he will be a Buddha, and out of him will come the power to work in such a manner as will transform the world This man represents the very highest ideal of Karma-Yoga."

What we can learn from Buddha's life/teaching:

1. If someone had attanded enlightenment at someone point of time in history the other can also repeat the same.

All of us can be "Buddha" i.e. " Awakened One".

2. No need to follow any austerities to understand the actual truth, we should always follow the "Middle way".

3. No need to go out and search for truth, it is all there within us, we just need follow the correct path.

4. Dukkha is always there in Human life, once we understand and accept this fact we can reduce or eliminate them by following the "Eightfold Path"

5. Living in the present moment, our life got stuck between either memory of past or anxieties of future.

7. " One must keep growing with every reason one gets answered for so that his level of rational power too grows in fathoms and knots. No destination is a final destination and no answer is a final answer, so one must keep moving on after reaching every pinnacle, till he reaches a point where silence becomes answer to every questions & noises. "

8. Three great truths:

A. Nothing is lost in the universe:Matter turns into energy, energy turns into matter. A dead leaf turns into soil. A seed sprouts and becomes a new plant. Old solar systems disintegrate and turn into cosmic rays. We are born of our parents, our children are born of us. Understanding this truth, the Buddha and his disciples never killed any animal.

B. Everything Changes: The second universal truth of the Buddha is that everything is continuously changing. Life is like a river flowing on and on, ever-changing. Sometimes it flows slowly and sometimes swiftly. It is smooth and gentle in some places, but later on snags and rocks crop up out of nowhere. As soon as we think we are safe, something unexpected happens.

C.Law of Cause and Effect: The third universal truth explained by the Buddha is that there is continuous changes due to the law of cause and effect. This is the same law of cause and effect found in every modern science textbook. In this way, science and Buddhism are alike.

By: Col Gurnam Singh

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Note: Please share what you learn from Buddha's life/teaching, I will add that above with your name.(This will help to improve the content of blog and benefite maximum people going through it).